Why Don't You and I?
by Crimson Idealist
Summary: Daniel is in love with Sam; now all he has to do is tell her.


Why Don't You and I?  
  
Pairing: Daniel/Sam  
  
Rating: G  
  
Spoilers: Up through "Space Race"  
  
Archive: A Small Drop of Ink, FF.net, Scientific Minds, LiveJournal. Anybody else want it?  
  
Disclaimer: I own no one. Stargate and its characters belong to Gekko Productions, Sci-fi Channel, and Showtime.  
  
Author's Note: This was written for Zeldaophelia in the SG-1 Flashfic at Livejournal. Also, thank you so much to Jaime, aka Lady J, for her constant beta reading skills.  
  
Daniel Jackson had realized something. He was in love with Samantha Carter.  
  
He asked her about it when SG-1 had found him on one of their missions, but she denied it. He chose to let it drop. Then Sam joined Warrick Finn in competing in a space race called the Loop of Kon Garat.  
  
He had sat there in the negotiations with the Hebridian government and business community and couldn't help but overhear the race on the radio. His heart stopped anytime he heard the name of the ship Sam and Warrick were flying in the play-by-play report. The moment he heard that their power was failing, he realized he loved her. Not just as a friend or a team mate, but he LOVED her, and he had to let her know.  
  
Just as he was hanging up a red handset back on Earth, an opportunity presented itself.  
  
"Hey," Sam smiled when she saw him.  
  
"Hey." He easily fell into step with her.  
  
"I just heard from Warrick. The winner of the race hired him as her new co- pilot on her new contract with Tech Con."  
  
"That's great." Bring it up, Daniel. It's now or never, he thought. Sam didn't give him a chance to change the subject, though.  
  
"Yeah, he sounded real happy," she answered, sadness in her voice.  
  
Daniel picked up on it immediately. "You don't."  
  
She smiled. "I'm fine."  
  
"You've still got that ion drive to study," he suggested, hoping it would make her feel better.  
  
"I know. Very cool."  
  
Daniel grinned, pushing his revelation to the back of his mind. "You're just sore that you lost."  
  
That's when she came to life. "Well, come on. It wasn't fair, bunch of cheaters."  
  
"So, what are you gonna do?"  
  
Her eyes twinkled mischievously. "Next year, I'm gonna kick butt."  
  
Then would have been the right moment to say something. Just let it all out. Daniel waited too long, though, and Sam walked away with her motorcycle helmet tucked under her arm.  
  
He lingered in the locker room a while longer, not sure what to do. Finally, he came to a decision.  
  
Racing down the hall in a frenzied excitement, he couldn't see anything in front of him. He was so zeroed in on his mission that he collided with Janet Fraiser, almost knocking her down. After righting her and adjusting his glasses, he looked at her eagerly. "Has Sam left yet?"  
  
Janet arched an eyebrow. "Are you feeling all right, Daniel?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm great. I just really need to talk to Sam," he answered, flashing her a charming smile.  
  
She took in his flushed face and relaxed a little. "She hasn't left yet; she's outside."  
  
"Thank you!" Daniel said as he pulled the small brunette into an unexpected hug. He then let go and bounded towards the elevator, leaving the bewildered doctor behind him.  
  
The minute he reached the outside, he slowed his pace to a crawl. The night air was cool and moist, thick with the scent of approaching rain. Daniel pulled his jacket tighter around himself as his blue eyes surveyed the dark green mountainside. His breath caught when he saw the person he was looking for.  
  
Sam was sitting on one of the larger rocks, staring up at the gradually clouding sky. Her helmet rested on the ground beside her. She seemed so peaceful and almost angelic in the waning moonlight.  
  
At that moment, Daniel realized that he had no clue what to say to her. That was weird, considering they had just had a conversation. No, for his current epiphany, a "Hi, Sam, how are you?" just wasn't going to cut it.  
  
Closing his eyes, Daniel took a deep breath. Carpe Diem. When he opened them, he slowly approached her.  
  
"This seat taken?" he asked.  
  
Sam glanced up, and her blue eyes brightened. "Daniel!" She patted the space on the rock next to her.  
  
For a moment, they sat in silence, watching the darkening sky. When Daniel had gathered his thoughts, he looked at her, but it was Sam who spoke first.  
  
"I was going to go back inside and mention this to you, but since you're here, I'll just go ahead and say it." She paused, took a breath, and met his eyes. "We can't be friends anymore, Daniel." A clash of thunder sounded in the distance.  
  
Shocked, Daniel almost fell off the rock. "What?"  
  
Sam turned away from him and stared ahead. She seemed to be weighing her words. Finally, she answered him. "Something's changed; we've changed. It's been different since you've been back, and it took the Loop of Kon Garat to make me realize it. I should have told you this back inside, but I didn't know how."  
  
"Look, I know I haven't been remembering a lot of stuff lately, but that doesn't mean you can't trust me anymore." All of his hope plummeted into the pit of his stomach.  
  
Sam looked at him, surprised. "Can't trust you? I trust you with my life, Daniel."  
  
Now he was really confused. "Then what's wrong?"  
  
Absently, she picked up a rock lying beside her boot and fiddled with it. "In fact, I was just going to let it go, but I couldn't. I've been thinking about it since you came back; well, since you ascended, really. When we almost lost power in Warrick's ship, I thought I might never see you again. And that scared me.  
  
"Well." She turned her blue eyes to the ground, seeming to have lost some of her confidence. Absently, she played with a blade on grass sitting next to her boot. Eventually, she looked at him again. "I think I'm falling in love with you."  
  
This time, Daniel really did fall off the rock. He didn't even have to tell her his realization; she already felt the same way.  
  
She reached out and pulled him up. "Are you all right?"  
  
"I've never been better," he smiled.  
  
"So, what do you think? Should we just forget this ever happened? Should we give it a try? What?"  
  
Daniel didn't need to say anything. Mustering up all of his courage, he gently took her face in his hands and kissed her. He felt the warm curve of Sam's lips mesh with his own. His pulse quickened as his tongue darted around hers.  
  
This moment had been seven years in the making. From the moment he had laid eyes on her, there had been something about Samantha Carter. Yes, he had loved Sha're with all of his heart, and it had almost killed him when she died. However, Sam had awakened something else within him. He had always felt a stab of jealousy anytime she was around Jack or Jonas, or even Teal'c, but he would push it to the back of his mind. Now, it was all falling into place.  
  
Eventually, they parted, and Daniel looked at the ground. "Sorry.I didn't mean.it's just." He met her eyes. "This is why I came looking for you. To tell you I love you, Sam."  
  
Sam's eyes were wide. "You do?"  
  
"Yeah." He took her hand in his. "Are you sure you want to do this?"  
  
She nodded firmly. "I've never been more sure about something in my life."  
  
"What are we going to tell everybody else?"  
  
Sam placed her head on his shoulder and looked up at the sky. " I don't want to worry about that right now. I think we should just keep it between the two of us a little while longer."  
  
Daniel smiled as he wrapped his arm around her, enjoying how right this all felt. No Stargate, no Ga'ould, no Jack, no Teal'c. Just the two of them and the approaching rain. 


End file.
